#i just wish she had more to do with the plot because i lvoe her

[malewifewwx]

I wish mianmian had a larger role

[nomattertheoceans]

GIF REQUEST MEME: Favorite season from The 100 - Season four

I love season four for a lot of reasons!! I think it’s the best season of the show and it should have been their last (despite my love for most of s5 ^^) I’m gonna ramble a lot but I don’t want it to take over the gifset so I’ll put it under a cut

Season four is the time of hard, impossible choices for everybody. The bomb at Farm Station, the List, the Nightblood tests, opening the bunker, the anti-radiation medicine…. Everybody is put through the ringer during this season and honestly, this is what I’m here for.

First great point for me personally: They can’t stop the radiations. When season 3 ended with the reveal of the radiations coming, I was legit disappointed with the show, I didn’t want them to spend the season “turning off” radiations miraculously, you know. So when ep 2 of the season aired and the first thing Raven said was “there’s no magic button to stop this” I WAS SO HAPPY!! It immediately got me much more hyped for the rest of the season because I was invested in “riding out 5 years of hell” much more than “let’s find a magic button”. So the season hooked me then ^^

The season is really good at re-using previous themes and twist them in just the right way

Clarke, who was so angry at the council for killing her dad, finds herself in the council’s position, and starts to understand that making such hard decisions is never easy. Making the list for instance, is so different from what she had to do before. The genocide of Mt Weather was an act of despair in the middle of a war, but making the list is a process, she has to truly chose who is “worth” more, which is what the council did when they sent the 100 to the Ground. She choses to hide the truth from everybody despite it going against what she wanted at the start of the show. It’s a really cool change for her character.

The Arkers and Grounders take the decision to test the Nightblood against Luna, the Rock Line thief, and Emori’s will. An obvious reminder of s2 but that I appreciate. I liked the Mt Weather story because of this: the mountain men were the antagonists but they also were the same as the rest of the show, they were doing whatever they had to do to survive, whatever it took, no matter how cruel it could be. We see in this season that when faced with the same decision, our protagonists reach the same result: sacrificing other people’s bodily autonomy to survive is worth it to them. It’s a really interesting theme to bring back because it muddies the waters of who’s right and wrong, and it highlights that in the end, there is no black and white answer.

This season gives us my personal favorite version of Clarke: she’s the closest she’ll get to a true antagonist (only comparable to s5 but s5 is a little bit of a mess so I still prefer her in s4). She has one conviction: saving her people. And to get it, she is ready to lie, to cheat, to kill, whatever it takes. It is interesting because I always saw Clarke in that light. She always believes that she has the right idea and she will do what it takes to get what she thinks is best. That’s where she is interesting to me (I’m not interested in her being an innocent victim forced to take decisions, that’s not how I see her at all and I find her a little dull in that interpretation haha but that’s for another post). Clarke stealing the bunker is a cruel act, but man, it’s incredibly smart. At that moment she knows she’s condeming many people (some of whom very close to her) to death, but she believes deep inside her that it’s the right thing to do so she’s willing to do it. And i really prefer her in those ruthless moments.

Octavia’s arc this season isn’t my favorite, but she is at her best during the last few episodes for me. The creation of Wonkru is one of my favorite scenes of the entire show, even though I saw it coming a mile away lmao (1200 spaces, 12 clans, it was easy to see where they were going!). I love the scene, I love the place it comes from (Octavia channeling Lincoln’s convictions was brilliant). I might not agree with her decisions (skaikru definitely deserved more spots than the other clans), but it makes perfect sense for her character to make this decision. The scene of her talking to Skaikru and telling them they’re no different from the others, and they have to choose or they all die, is also one of my favorites. Octavia received no mercy on the Ark, she had a terribly tragic childhood because of those people who are now begging her for their lives, and she doesn’t budge. The Ark, and the Ground, forced her to be that way, and she doesn’t back away. It’s also all a brilliant introduction to what Wonkru and Octavia will become in s5 (but again, that’s for another post lmao)

I love that we get the introduction of Spacekru because I love their little found family and the scene where they reach the Ring is so good!

Murphy’s speech to Clarke makes me tear up everytime I see it (it really was one of the strongest moments of acting of the entire show, Richard Harmon is amazing in it). Emori also blows me away in the previous episode, the way she’s shown to be ruthless, and cunning, and also how well she reads people. She knew they would come to test someone, and she did everything she had to for that someone to not be her. I love her ^^

I like the plot of the second dawn bunker well enough! (although I will never change my mind that Cadogan was a dumbass for putting it where it is instead of IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST WHERE THERE’S NO RISK OF BUILDINGS FALLING ON IT LIKE WHAT LITERALLY HAPPENED IN S5 OKAY anyway…..), it’s far from perfect but I like that it explains the people coming to greet Becca in s3, and I like that we expand a little on the origins of the Grounders culture (even though I wanted more about this). It’s kind of an “easy” solution, but at the same time it’s not. It was established early in the season before being abandoned, and even once it’s found, it’s not at all a perfect and easy solution. They have to fight for it, decide who lives there, it’s a pretty interesting development. What I mean is that it’s not discovered one episode before the end and it doesn’t solve everything. If anything, it creates more conflict. Which I appreciate alot.

ALSO ALSO Echo is a badass general in this season and I love it. She goes from being a spy in earlier seasons, to full-on commanding armies and being a strategic mastermind and I love it! She’s also ruthless and cunning and I lvoe that for her. It’s also such a good season for her and Bellamy!!! I lvoe all of it ^^

This season also has one of my favorite underrated quotes!!!! I’m gonna use a gif here cause I’m not at the limit yet lmao

“It’s unity day.” GODDDD it’s so good. It’s simple, but it conveys so much information and I love it:

Unity Day: the stations coming together to survive -> we’re virtually in the same situation here.

It’s a happy occasion, a day of survival and hope, just like the hope Octavia gave all the clans with her decisions

But it’s also a day of death and loss. She’s giving Kane a choice: join Wonkru with 100 members, or die in the flames.

It reminds us of the history of the Arkers, and I love when world-building does this thing where both characters are shown to have such a close cultural background that three little words are enough to convey such a strong message. It’s a detail but I love it and I wanted to ramble for a little bit ^^

Clarke’s sacrifice: This is when it gets to “meh” points for the seasons for me. Clarke deciding to stay behind to save Spacekru was a good moment. Yes, I know that if she hadn’t climbed the tower they all would have died anyway, but still. It’s a great moment for her character. She has hurt those people time and time again during this season, she was ready to let them die more than once, and I think she regrets it (although again, I like to see the extremes she’s willing to reach in this season). In that moment, she doesn’t decide that it’s too late to survive so she might as well give up. She knows she’s going to die, and she gives her last moments to save the lives of the people she hurt in the past. And I really love this. That is….. Until Clarke is revealed to not have died. I truly believe that she had reached the ending of her arc in the show, and it would have been a great ending to her character. But that’s also because I believe the show should have ended in s4 lmao. If it had ended, then maybe they could have left her death ambiguois, by showing her reaching the safety of the lab, but not showing her again afterwards. That way, we had no way of being sure she survived, but it was left ambiguous enough to make us decide her fate outselves.

The perfect ending: I didn’t choose the last gif randomly. That scene of Raven and Bellamy looking down on the Earth was in my opinion the perfect shot to end the show. At that point in time, we are left in a place that is very similar to where the show started: the Earth is destroyed by radiations, some people are waiting it out in space, some people are waiting it out on the ground. it mirrors the premise of the show (although in a much smaller scale), but this time, we’re left with hope of what might come in the future. Those two groups know (or hope) that they will reunite, especially with Octavia and Bellamy, the relationship at the core of the show, being separated. If the show ends here, we have come full circle from the pilot episode, and we can imagine how those two groups will reunite in the future. I find that ending the best possible for the show, so even though there’s so much I like about season 5, I wish the show had stopped at that moment, at that shot of Raven and Bellamy looking down on the Earth.

That got reaaaaally long, so…. sorry about that xD If you’ve reached this far, feel free to tell me what you think of this season (or the others haha) or send me asks, or request for other gifsets!!!

[megatraven]

Imagine that Spiderman post but Alex and MC.

And then Alex finding MC and saving her after she was reincarnated.

yes. i lvoe that. i love it so much. i love the angst i love the pain and u know im a SLUT For reincarnation <33

let me deal you another one that's essentially me really just stealing the spiderman plot:

Alex isn't able to save MC. They try, gods above do they try, but it isn't enough, and she dies. Not even in their arms, not even after they have the chance to say goodbye, or "I love you." She dies before they have that chance. Just out of their reach.

They cradle her to themself, apologizing, over and over, wishing against everything for the chance to make it right, to save her.

But she's gone.

Alex can never fully move on from her. They always carry that regret, and that guilt with them. The what-ifs. The maybes. They always love her. And they try to be their best self, because they know its what she would want of them. That she would want them to keep going, to do and be better.

And then, one day, they're ripped away from their world, thrown into a strange parallel with nothing more than the sense that something is wrong- and they need to help fix it.

They come across themself, the one that resides in this parallel world, and Alex sees that they've still got their MC. She hasn't died yet, if it's to happen at all.

From the outside looking in, it seems like Alternate-Alex and Alternate-MC are just in the early stages of dating, and figuring out what that means.

Beyond them, though, there's a much bigger problem than what they've faced in their own world. It isn't just one half-titan causing havoc across the city and Olympus- it's a whole horde of titans. And Deukalion is with them- the Deukalion from their world, before he found himself at the gods' mercy and healing.

And, of course, their alternate self is in the thick of things... with her.

There's that terrible feeling again.

They make themself known, eventually, when the situation gets more difficult, more dangerous.

There's some theory that they have, that after the disruption of a particularly powerful overflow artifact in the alternate world, people from Alex's world got pulled into the alternate. It's hard to wrap their head around, but god shit is weird. They make do.

Alex, Alternate-Alex, and Alternate-MC work together to figure out how to stop the titans, and they have a plan that involves the rooftop of HERA.

Of course, things never go according to plan. Things take a turn for the worse almost immediately when too many titans appear right out the gate. Both versions of Alex try to get MC to leave, but she's always been too stubborn to let them alone.

Giving up on trying to make her go is their first mistake.

The second is when Deukalion, in his grief-stricken rage, throws her from the rooftop, and her Alex can't escape the throng of titans no matter how desperate they are to reach her.

But there's no third mistake. There's no hesitation now, just full-on determination to never let the past repeat itself again. Alex dives off the roof after her, and with help from their aura, they boost themself enough to catch her before she hits the ground.

And so she's there, and she's alive in their arms, and they did it. They saved her, this time. She isn't their MC, but she's still MC and she's alive because of them.

It's redemption. It's salvation.

It's knowing that their alternate self will not have to live with having failed her the same way that they had failed their own.

They set her down and they're unable to stop themself from crying, but she doesn't say anything about it. She rubs the tears away with a gentle touch before she takes their hands in hers, and tells them that they're going to get out of this okay.

And in the end, they do.

All three of them make it out okay, and Alex gets to go home. It's hard to part from MC, even if she isn't their own, but something has settled in them that makes returning to a world without her not as terrible.

After all, she's out there somewhere, in other worlds, alive and happy. They'd managed to ensure it for one such world. And in their own, they'll wait as long as it takes to see her again.

(Yeah ok i had to throw in a bit of reincarnation at the end there. sue me-)

[popculturebuffet]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990 Review: Still Possesses Turtle Power After All These Years

Cowabunga all you happy people! I freaking love the Teenage Ninja Turtles. I grew up with it from Turtles in Time, which was my first video game, to the 2003 cartoon, which I covered the first three episodes of last month, and on to present day as I re-read the idw comics after finally reading the original eastman and laird run of mirage, and impatiently waiting for Shredder’s Revenge to come out after a LONG drout of no good TMNT games. I”m a fan of these heroes four, their dynamic as a family, the endless possiblities that come from it’s long history and ablitlity to go anywhere in any genre, and the wonderful goofy shit that happens when you have a franchise about mutant turtles learning ninjitsu from a rat and fighting a dude covered in knife covered samurai armor. 

So with me finally covering the guys after almost a year last month and with a new movie set to debut at some point this year, I had the bright idea to revisit the FIRST TMNT movie after way too many years of not watching it. This movie is anear and dear to my heart: When I first started getting into the boys big as a kid with the 2003 cartoon, I badly wanted more turtles. But back then it wasn’t nearly as easy to glom onto some more of the sewer shock pizza kings: Streaming sites with all the cartoons on them weren’t all that accesable, dvd’s were expensive for the 87 cartoon, Mirage wasn’t reprinting the comics in any meaningful way and my local comic shop didn’t have any at all and I could only play the SNES when my brother had it set up on occasion like at our Grandma’s farm. 

As you probably guessed though there was one exception: the original 1990 movie, which I got at Walmart for 5 bucks and haven’t let go of since. It was one of my first dvds and is still one of my most precious. Said film hit the spot just right as like my beloved 2003 series, it was a mildly goofy but still fucking cool adaptation that stuck closer to the mirage comics, even more than the 2003 series would, while taking a few queues from the 87 series. This film is as precious to me as the 2003 series and a with a brand new movie coming up, I figured it was the exact right time to dig into this classic: what makes it still good to this day, what’s fun to point and laugh at, and how the heck Jim Henson got involved in this. So join me under the cut as I take a look at my boys first theatrical outing and why I still love watching a turtle. 

No One Wanted To Make This: Before we get into the film itself some background. As usual I struggled a bit, but thankfully found some help in the form of this Hollywood Reporter article.  It’s a fascinating read worth your time, providing an oral history of the film from the people who worked on it. 

The film was the baby of Gary Propper, a surfer dude and road manager for the prop comic Gallagher, aka that guy who used to smash watermelons but now has instead opted to smash what little’s left of his career by being a homophobic douchenozzle. He found an ally in Showtime producer Kim Dawson who’d produced Gallagher’s special. I don’t think there will be more of an 80′s sentence than “Gallagher’s surfer dude agent wanted to make a teenage mutant ninja turtles movie”. Propper was a huge fan of the comics, and with Dawson’s help convinced Laird and Eastman to let them option it to studios. 

It may come as a shock to you but the road agent for a homophobic watermelon man and a producer at a niche cable channel wanting to make a movie based on an underground comic book about masked turtles at a time when the two most recent comic book movies were Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Howard the Duck, did not go well. Every door in Hollywood got slammed in their face, even Fox> Even the eventual backer of the film, Golden Harvest, a hong kong action film studio, took months to convince to actually back the film. 

Things did not get easier from there: The films writer Bobby Herbeck had trouble getting a story agreed on because Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s working relationship had deteroiated horribly from the stress so naturally the two could not agree on a damn thing and argued with each other. Peter Laird  made a tense siutation even worse by constnatly sniping at Herbeck and feeling he was a “Hollywood outsider infringing on his vision and characters”

Granted the script was apparently not great... but Pete still comes off as a pretnetious ass who views his weird indie comic as THE HIGHEST OF HIGH CALLINGS HOW DARE YOU SOIL IT. And continued to be kind of a prick like this throughout the rest of his time with the property. 

Thankfully the film found i’ts voice, vision and director in Steve Barron. Barron was a music video guy who knew the producers and while reluctant, eventually dove into the project rightfully thinking the film would need to be a mix of the mirage comics and 87 cartoon, keeping aprils’ reporter job, the turtles lvoe of pizza and their iconic color coding from the cartoon but adapting several stories from the comics as the backbone of the film. The guys liked barron MUCH better and things ran smoother. 

Barron also brought in one of the film’s biggest selling points and it’s most valuable asset: it’s triumphantly awesome Jim Henson costumes. Barron had worked with good old Jim on the music videos for Labyrinth, and while it took some convincing since the comics were violent as hell and that wasn’t Jim’s style, Barron eventually got him on board. This naturally doubled the budget, but given Henson’s costumes STILL hold up today and look better than the cgi used in the platinum dunes films... it was a good call. And this was brand new tech for jim, having to invent tons of new ideas and mechanisms just to make the things work, and said things still were absolute hell on the actors. Jim later ended up not liking the film for being too violent... which I find hilarious given how many muppets got eaten or blowed up real good on his show but regardless, I thank this legendary and wonderful man as without him this film WOULD NOT have worked. The costumes here look great, feel realistic, and you can’t tell the actors were dubbed much less horribly suffering in those suits. Much like Disney Land. 

The film would get picked up for distribution by New Line, and despite i’ts weird as hell origins and the long shot it had.. the film was a MASSIVE hit at the box office, owing to a combination of Batman 89 the previous year having proved comic book movies can work for audiences, the cartoon’s runaway sucess, and a massive marketing campaign. The film made it’s mark. So now we know how we got here let’s get into the film itself. 

What’s the Story Morning Glory?:

So the story for this one is largely cobbled together from some of the more notable arcs Eastman and Laird did before handing off the book to others full time as the stress of the company and the mounting tension with each other made it near impossible to work together on the book itself. 

To Save time i’m just going through what hte movie takes from the comics plot wise now to save me the trouble later:The movie takes elements from the first issue (The Turtles, Splinter and Shredder’s backstories, Shredder being fully human and the main antagonist, Shredder’s design and the final rooftop showdown that results in Shredder’s death), second and third, (April’s apartment over her dad’s old store and the turtles moving in when their home is ransacked and splinter has gone missing), the rapheal micro series (A tounge in cheek way of cashing in on the Mini-Series craze of the 80s, a one shot by modern standards and something that’s tragically been underused as an idea as only TMNT and MLP have used the idea at IDW, Raph meeting casey and their fight with one another), the return of shredder arc (One of the turtles being ambushed and mobbed by the foot and then thrown though a sky light (Leo in the comic and Raph here), the turtles being horribly outnumbered by them, Casey coming ot the rescue and metting the non-raph turtles for the first time, and them being forced to escape when the place goes up in flames), their exile to northampton (April writing in a journal, casey working on a car with one of the guys and one of hte guys looking over hteir injured brother), and finally, their triumphant return which was very loosely adapted as there are no deformed shredder clones and shredder not being dead yet in this version was not brought back by a colony of super science worms. 

So as for how this all comes together: Our story takes place in New York: A crimewave is high with muggings mysterious. There are a ton of phantom thefts going around and at most people have been seeing teens responsibile. And the police.. are at about this level of useful:

The only person doing something is April O’Neil, played by Judith Hoag. Hoag is easily the standout of the film, giving us a strong, confident woman with a wonderful sense of humor. She honestly might be my faviorite April O Neil, and given we’ve had some great ones with 2003, 2012 and Rise, that’s not something I say lightly. I honestly wish I’d recognized her in more stuff as she was both on Nashville and the mom in the Halloween Town films, and most recently was on the ScFy show the magicians. She’s a talented lady and i’m glad she’s still goin. 

April is a reporter for Channel 3 like the cartoon, though for some weird reason her boss from the cartoon is replaced by Charles Pennigton, played by Jay Patterson, whose currently dealing with his troubled son Danny, played by Micheal Turney. Pennington is horribly useless at both jobs: At work he tries to ease April off calling out Chief Sterns, who refuses to listen to April’s evidence gathered from japanese immigrants that the crimes resemble similar ones in japan in favor of trying to get charles to shut her up. Danny meanwhile is a member of the foot becase his dad thinks shouting out him and talking about him like he’s not there and generally being a dipstick will actually do anything to help him. 

I love the concept for the foot here. In addition to being a Ninja Violence Gang as always, they now recruit new members by finding kids without families or with troubled family lives and giving them a sense of family with the foot, and sweeting the bargin with a giant cave filled with arcade machines, a skate ramp and general late 80′s early 90′s kids goodies. Is it rediculous? Yes. Is it also clever as it gives Shredder an easy army of plausably deniable theives that he can pick the best out of to put in his elite that will be tirelessly loyal to him and him alone? Also yes. 

So April being public about this stuff gets her attacked, which naturally leads to our heroes coming in, first in the shadows and later directly when April wont’ give up on the case and Shredder sends some ninjas to go shut her up.. which he does weirdly as the guy jsut slaps her and tells her to cut it out like he’s on a domestically abusive episode of Full House. Raph saves her, and we get the turtles origin.. though weirdly they cut it in half. We get the ooze portion but Splinter’s past with Saki, Saki’s murder of his master and his master’s partern Tang Shen is left for later in the film and the fact Shredder’s saki is treated as a big twist despite the fact the biggest audience for the film would be kids... and kids would’ve been familiar with the cartoon where the giant brain monster routinely screeches out saki at the shredder. Maybe Barron just thought he was an alcoholic I don’t know. It just would’ve made more sense to have it all at once and let the audeince put it together. 

April becomes good friends with the turtles over a night of frozen pizza and camradrie, but the Splinters return home to find it ransacked, Splinter kidnapped by the foot, and are forced to Stay with april. Charles meanwhile tries to get April to backoff because he made a deal with the police to clear Danny’s record, without TELLING her any of this mind you, but I will save my rage on that little plot point for in a bit as Danny who he drug along sees the turtles and tells the Shredder. 

So we get the return of the shredder arc as Raph goes through a window, our heroes fight valiantly, and Raph’s friend Casey who he met earlier shows up, the two having bonded as all true friends do.. by beating the shit out of each other ending with raph shouting DAMNNNNNNN really big and dramatically into the sky for some reason. The Turtles and friends escape with an injured raph from April’s burning second hand store. She had a second hand store it was poorly established and only there because she had it in the comics. 

Our heroes retreat to a farm April’s grandma owned in Northampton, Massachutes, where Mirage was located at the time the original comics where they were exiled to the place were written and a location that has been a staple of the turtles ever since. The turtles slowly recover, lick their wounds, talk about who hooked up with who on gilligans island etc, before Leo connects with Splinter via meditation, who tells them to come back. Splinter also starts to connect with Danny and convinces him to swtich sides.. or at the very least squat in the boys old home. 

The boys return home, find danny, and prepare, Danny goes back and ends up giving away the Turtles are home.. but the turtles are ready and in an awesome sequence kick the fuck out of the foot squad sent for them with some well prepared steam vents. Casey goes to get splinter since Danny told them and with Danny’s help, finds him, since Danny found out they were gonna kill him. Casey beats up Tatsu, shredder’s right hand man, and they get him out. 

We get our final fight which is awesome up until the climax.. which is splinter casually tripping shredder with nunchucks and thier bloody history being kind of rushed and unsatsifying. Casey crushes shredder with a garbage truck, April gets her job back, more on that in a moment, she and casey hook up, and we end with the fucking awesome song T-U-R-T-L-E Power by partners in cryme. Seriously check it out it’s fucking triumphant. 

The song is just good.. cheesy? Sure but that’s half the fun. It’s the gold standard for movie theme songs for them and stacks up handily with the various animated series themes.. all of which slap. Okay... ALMOST all of which slap. Fast Forwards is aggressively medicore, which is doubly suprising to me since 4kids was REALLY damn good with theme songs. It was one of the three things they were best at along with finding VERY talented voice actors and setting japan based works in america because merica dammit.  

The plot is very solid: It skilfully packed half of eastman and laird’s run on TMNT into 90 mintues while adding things like April’s job at channel 9, the way the foot recurited kids etc. The plot flows well for hte most part and apart from one annoying subplot we’ll get to never has a moment that feel unecessary or dosen’t pay off later. And the stellar plot and fun pacing of it helps boilster the characters that do work... and help paper over the ones that are so thin the’yd fall down a grate...

Our Heroes, Villains and Annoying Middle Aged Guys:

Yeahhhh character is hit and miss here. Some are rather strong, others are the bare basics for the character their adapting and most are just to serve the plot but some work some don’t,  So let’s talk about it starting with our boys:

Raph is the most fleshed out of the turtles, being the main focus of the first 2/3 of the film, and having his anger be part of what SHOULD be a character arc, learning to temper it. And while granted MOST TMNT properties do this, to the point that Rise Raph is so loveable in part because his boisterous bruiser big bro attitude is a refreshing break from the usual grumpus we get. But at the time this hadn’t been done in every version but the 87 cartoon, so exploring it was valid.. but despite saying this should be a thing htey just forget about it and the most plot relevance he gets is going thorugh a window. He dosen’t really get a resolution.. his arc just kind of stops dead for the final half and it’s one of the film’s weaker points, one I only just now noticed on this rewatch. He’s still the most entertaining. 

Leo is the weakest of the turtles. He really lacks a personality here mostly just being leader and while his spirtual side is touched on, it’s  mostly a plot device. He’s just kinda the leader because he was in the comics to the point Partners in Cryme called Raph the leader. His role in getting taken out by the foot was taken by Raph, so he just has.. nothing to do for most of the film other than gripe at raph ocasionally and say orders. He’s probably the worst Leo i’ve seen outside of Next Mutation. I prefice that because after watching Phelous’ review it’s VERY clear those four are the worst versions of the characters, and no personality is still better than either having your team do nothing or yelling at them as your personality. I chalk this up to the Mirage Leo, and the mirage turtles to a poit being kind of bland. Not TERRIBLE characters, especially for the time, but not nearly as fleshed out or individualized as they woudl be in other adpatations, and with most traits LEo DID have, like his badassery flat out gone, he’s just.. nothing here. 

Mikey and Donnie are a double act here with both sharing a brain. Interestingly instead of his normal genius character, Donnie is Mikey’s best friend and the two simply trade jokes and schtick together. The two are interchangable.. but easily the best part of the film and a lot of the most memorable gags and lines, from Ninja Kick the Damn Rabbit! to “Do you like Penicllin on your pizza”, are from them. Thier there almost entirely as comic relief but it works, with both clealry being more modled ont he 87 cartoon turtles, a move that helps lighten the mood in darker moments. Their just genuinely charming and it’s intresting to see such a diffrent version of Donnie, and other incarnations, specifically the 2003 and Rise versions, would retain the sarcastic edge. 

Splinter is splinter. That’s about it, he’s peformed well and the puppet is amazing but he gets kidnapped a half an hour in and outside of influcencing Denny, more on that in a moment, and finishing Shredder he dosen’t do much but spout exposition. He’s not bad or anything, but he’s essentially a rodent shaped plot device. He was also puppeted by Kevin CLash, aka the guy who does Elmo. So there you go. 

April on the other hand.. is truly excellent. This might be my faviorite April. Judith’s april nicely blends the cartoon and mirage versions: She has the cartoons energy and job, but the comics sheer will and casual nature. Judith just oozes personality and her April is just a joy to watch, from her breezy chemistry filled interactions with the guys to her confrntation with Chief Sterns, knowing she’ll get thrown out by the asshole. She’s confident, and even when afraid dosen’t back down to her attackers and even helps out during the sewer ambush. I mean it’s a pot on the head but still it’s neat. She’s easily the best part of the flim and the most fleshed out of the cast. The worst I can say is they kinda shove her store from the comics, Second Time Around, in there for no other reason than it was in the comics: It dosen’t come up until it’s needed for the foot’s assault on her place. But overall.. she’s just fantastic to watch. 

Speaking of fantastic to watch, Elias Koteas is fantastic as Casey. Seriously he’s only second to the 2003 version in my eyes, getting the concept of a testorone filled average guy who decided to just go out and hit people with sports equipment after watching too much A-Team.. I mean that part of it’s not in this version but it’s implied, just right. Like judith, Elias is just really funny to watch and his big scenes, showing up just in time during the foot assault on april’s place and his fight with Tatsu are some of the best parts of the film, the former taken directly from the comics. This version isn’t without problems: His friendship with Raph, his most endearing aspect and one that has been carried throughout eveyr version Casey’s important, with the only exception so far being rise and we have a movie to fix that, is absent here. HE does save the guy, but they don’t really bond or anything. In fact he disappears for about half an hour after his big fight with Raph. But... again he’s just so damn entertaining, down to his JOSEEEEEEEEEEE Conseco bats (There was a two for one sale!).

Shredder is just a LITTLE better than splinter, if only because his actor projects a true aura of menace and I feel this version had some influence on the pants crappingly terrifying 2003 version. And the idea of the foot recurting teenagers like I said is a good one: He gives them home and a cause, they give him plausably deniable backup. And his fight with the boys in the climax is really awesome... the conclusion sucks but otherwise h’es okay. Not the deepest villian, but he has enough presence to be enjoyable.

His right hand man Tatsu, whose been adapted ocasionally since this and reimaigned as Natsu in the IDW comics, a female version, is also fine. He’s your standard grimacing goon but has enough presence to work. 

So that brings us to the penningtons. Charles, april’s boss at the station and his son Danny who’s joined the foot as he feels his dad dosen’t love him. Charles..is about as interesting and likeable as a dog turd and is the worst aspect of the film. No debate there, he just sucks. He sucks so hard he’s classified as a black hole.  The film wants you to see him as a put upon wokring dad whose frustrated with his son’s increased moodiness, skipping school and crminal undertakings and just wants to help him and loves him deep down. The problem is his actor’s delivery instead of concerned.. is just pissed. He just seems pissy and upset about the whole thing and comes off like he’s only mad about Danny doing this because he’s embarassing him and not because you know, it’s bad. When confronting Danny about stealing, he dosen’t consider MAYBE he’s part of a gang or needs help, but just wonders “Why are you stealing when I give you stuff”. Because, Dipshit, sometimes kids do crimes not because they need the stuff but because they WANT to, and because they want to act the fuck out. 

The most he does for the kid is agree to try and get April to back off the police when Cheif Sterns offers to let Danny go and not put him on record in exchange for it. The problem.. is this makes him even MORE unsympathetic. While I do get wanting to help your child, I do and it’s a sucky position... he again should be sympathetic.. but he handles the thing so badly it sucks. He just tells april to ease off, with no reason given, then fires her when she SHOCKINGLY dosen’t give up taking the guy whose refusing to take her hard work seriously or actually solve the crime wave problem to task for his shitty behavior as ANY person facing a shitty, corrput cop would. She just wants to hold him acountable and get him to actually do something. He clearly knows her on a personal level too as he talks about his issues with his son freely with her, something you don’t do with an employee unless their also a friend on some level. 

He could have TOLD april what was going on. She’d be furious at Stern’s naked corrpution and prioritizing shutting her up over actually solving crimes.. and thus put at least some of that energy into shutting him down or finding a way around it, going to the papers or something like that. Even in 1990 pre-internet, there were ways to get around Sterns blackmail and expose him so someone who’d actually do the job could get the job. Instead he just comes off as a selfish coward who rather than try and fight the guy blatantly abusing his power and using Charles own son as  barganing chip, goes along with it because it’s the easier option to simply bow to him instead of TRY and stop this. And it’s not like he’s even going after a beloved public figure or someone who could hide behind his rep: Sterns was blatantly failing a crime wave, April had called him out on his failrues and coverups multiple times. The public was against sterns.. finding out he tried to blackmail the media into shutting up about him would PROBABLY end him... I only say probably not because the public wouldn’t skewer him, but because police tend to escape consequences for blatantly murdering someone on a daily basis and Andrew Cumo is STILl mayor over in new york, the same city this movie takes place, 31 years later, depsite EVERYONE asking him to resign over a long history of sexual harassment and a more recent but still horrible history of hiding death numbers. I don’t doubt people being stupid enough to ignore this or the bilaws with cops being stacked enough for him to get away with it, but just because someone gets away with a crime dosen’t mean you shoudln’t try and go after them in the first place. Fuck. Charles. Pennington. 

Danny on the other hand is FAR more interesting and I think gets way too much flack when it comes to this subplot. Unlike his dad, whose dead weight, Danny is intresting: He provides a POV character for the foot’s MO in the film of taking in wayward teens, and his character arc is pretty engaging, slowly realizing the foot dosen’t care and that hte turtles are the good guys. HIs actor does a great job and while not the biggest presence, he’s not a bad addition to clan hamaoto and I wish other adaptations would find a way to use him. The pull between doing the right thing and his found family is a good struggle. My only real issue with his plot is the moviies flawed aseop about family. It tries to contrast shredder and his using the kids blatnatly with Splinter and Charles really loving their sons. And it works with Splinter and the kids because despite being a tad strict, Splinter clearly loves his sons and works with them to help them. The problem is ENTIRELY with Charles and Danny. As I said Charles love comes off as transasctional: He either thinks he can buy it or just expects it because he shot a bunch of goop into Danny’s mom after two minutes of disapointment. It dosen’t work with them because neither option is good for Danny. His father is neglectful, chooses throwing his jounralistic integrity out the window over talking to his son or his best friend about another way, and abrasive. Danny is no saint, he does do crimes, but it’s clearly a result of a shitty upbringing and the shredder and co actually offeirng him the love he desperatly craves. Danny goes to the foot because his dad is bad at his job but the film never adresses that and just expects Danny to go back to his dad because the plot says so. Danny would HONESTLY be better off with Splinter. No really. Sure he’d have to live in the sewers.. but he did so for a few weeks in the course of the movie. He’s fine down there. Splitner actually cares about him and took an intrest to him and knows how to raise a child. Let him become the fifth turtle. An aseop about family is not a bad thing: Loaded subject that it can be given how many outright abusive families exist, i’m one of the lucky ones who dosen’t have that issue, family is an important thing and can be a source of comfort and support. But this film tells you you should love and respect someone who does not love, respect or value you because he spent a minute in your mom’s vagina and that’s not how family should work and is outright dangerous to kids in an abusive situation. Love the film otherwise but fuck this aseop skyhigh. 

Final thoughts:

Overall though.. the film is bodacious. It’s funny, well paced, has an awesome cast, and outside of a certain bald asswipe... it’s a really good superhero film. Is it the best i’ve seen? Nope. Not even close and character wise most of them are as thin as a wet paper bag covered in ranch dressing. But it’s still a fun as hell with awesome corepgraphy, a killer soundtrack, seriously the soundtrack is damn excellent and only didn’t get it’s own section because I didn’t have enough to say and some of the best effects work i’ve seen in a film in the turtle suits. If you haven’t seen it I urge you to check it out: it’s a breezy 90 minutes, it’s on hbo max and it’s a shell of a time. Will I do the next film? 

We’ll see how this one does like wise and such, but I will be doing the rise film whenever it comes out this year. So look for that and keep possesing turtle power my dudes. If you liked this review subscirbe for more, join my patreon to keep this blog a chugging, comission a review if you have more turtle stuff you want me to cover, and comment on this. What do you think of the movie, what are your thoughts on the review, what can I do better, what other turtle stuff would you like me to cover/ Let me know and i’ll see you at hte next rainbow. 

[comicteaparty]

December 7th, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on December 7th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST.  The chat focused on Heart Hex by tendermiri.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. Today we are discussing Heart Hex by tendermiri~! (http://hearthex.tumblr.com/) For those new to CTP, discussions about the comic are freeform, so please feel free to bring up whatever you wish. However, every 30 minutes I will be dropping in a discussion question to help those who would like a prompt. These questions are totally OPTIONAL to answer so pay them no mind if you wish~! Remember, constructive criticism is allowed, but the primary focus here is to have fun and appreciate the amazing comics that the community makes~! Each chat a top comment will be picked and featured on an ad for this chat, so let’s have a great discussion~!

With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Helloooo! I'd say my fave scene was actually the one where Teo was musing about being an internet sensation and what it might mean to lose it and such. Resonated with me, in part because I'm so far on the other end of the spectrum. ^.^

zestwitch

I especially enjoyed the palm reading scene, like the page that showed the various lines on the palm and explaining what they meant. It was a nice story break that functioned as a plot driver and also built atmosphere. :^)

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oh yeah, that was neat! I admit, I looked at my own palm to see if I could spot similar lines.

zestwitch

Yep it's really nice when comics that feature witches involve smaller/quieter aspects, makes it feel well rounded

RebelVampire

both are really good scenes. I like how Teo's internet musings were visually presented cause something about it just made it more realistic and grounding. for the palm reading scene tho i also really love that it broke to show the palm reading lines. i think the way its presented is really helpful for those who ahve never had their palm read and would otherwise be on google going wtf is this magic

MathTans the Pun Prince

The colour coding was clever too.

Also, speaking of visual presentation, impressive backgrounds.

zestwitch

Oh yes- I really like that it's set in Chicago. That's my bias lol I love when stories take place here.

Superjustin of Time and Space

HI THERE

And yeah Chicago is a cool place

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh. I don't think I even majorly picked up on that. Guess I only notice when it's set around where I am. ^^

All the baddest demons hang out in Chicago.

Superjustin of Time and Space

yes

RebelVampire

gonna be honest i also didnt notice the specific setting. XD some sort of city was enough for me while reading. i was a bit more focused on the demon XD

MathTans the Pun Prince

Curious, did anyone think Lee's boyfriend was actually legit sorry about wanting her back? I was majorly skeptical.

zestwitch

As in, did he truly want her back?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Yeah. I was worried he was playing her for more information about the witchy things. Turned out he was just a jerk, but when she accepted him, I felt like, oh dear.

zestwitch

Yeah I don't think he's genuine with either lee or dana. He seems to me like he leans towards whoever is convenient for him, or just how he happens to feel. Not sure if he really loves either of them.

Superjustin of Time and Space

this guy's face

I lvoe it for some reason

RebelVampire

he does have a good expression there

MathTans the Pun Prince

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he doesn't now, after what we saw in the background of Teo's story. Maybe I'm just suspicious by nature, I had doubts from the get-go. ^.^

RebelVampire

i definitely dont think ant was genuine at all

the minute he walked into that apartment i screamed "dont you take him back its a trap"

and then it was a trap

MathTans the Pun Prince

Right, Ant. (I'm bad on names.) Okay, so not just me, whew.

RebelVampire

nah everything about ant screamed dishonest

not to mention most ppl who cheat tend to cheat again

not always some ppl do learn. but a lot just really dont change

MathTans the Pun Prince

The twin brother thing is interesting. They're drawn differently enough though that I don't think mistaken identity will come up. (Hair colour in particular.)

Superjustin of Time and Space

props to this hair too

zestwitch

Yes I'm very interested in Teo's brother, right off the bat he has a really engaging personality so I'd like to see more of him

Teo too. He's very likable

MathTans the Pun Prince

They're less demonic.

RebelVampire

im interested in the fact theyre twins just cause they have gone out of their way to look really different. so at first glance you would not expect that. it opesn up a lot of questions about their relationship too

MathTans the Pun Prince

Seems like they only recently moved in together too? Wonder if it was after Teo separated from his past relationship.

Superjustin of Time and Space

>two boys moving together(edited)

I like those kind of things for some reason

zestwitch

I think the thing I'm most interested in is more info on the demon. Rosier

I wanna know more about his backstory and motivations for sure.

MathTans the Pun Prince

He seems to enjoy his work.

Superjustin of Time and Space

Yea

RebelVampire

i know on the character profiles it says he hasnt been to earth since the 1600's

which now makes me wonder who made the last blood pact

zestwitch

True

MathTans the Pun Prince

I really need to remember to look at the profile pages. >.<

RebelVampire

QUESTION 2. The comic deals with a lot of themes in regards to revenge, love, fame, and even cause & effect. Each character has their own personal issues, from Lee’s torn apart love life to Teo’s newness to fame. Which character’s struggle resonates with you the most and why? How do you think their struggles tie into other themes of the comic? Additionally, what other themes not mentioned have you noticed in the comic, and why do you think they’re important to the larger story?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Heh, well, as I said, the Teo fame thing actually resonates, largely because of how different it is from where I'm at. He's made it "big" (relatively) and is doing signings and things, while wondering about how it affects his life. Speaking as someone who's still trying to claw together more than a dozen readers after 6 years, I wonder if I'd be equally vexed on the flip side.

(Hm, vexed is the wrong word. Angsty?)

Teo's got the whole imposter thing going on too, wondering if it's only because of his brother's popularity that he's made a name for himself.

zestwitch

True the imposter syndrome facet is really interesting

RebelVampire

i at least found his struggle relatable in that i watch a lot of youtubers who talk about stuff like that. where theyre just doing all these things going what even how did this happen

so i feel the portrayal of the struggle is actually pretty realistic

thats a good spot tho

MathTans the Pun Prince

It's one you don't often see either.

RebelVampire

the imposter syndrome

tho i cant blame him cause there is a point its hard to know which person has more influence on the other

i mean im sure there are some fans of his that are his fans cause his brother is a cool rockstar

its just always a question of how many

MathTans the Pun Prince

There is that. It could have helped boost his name, the association, at least initially.

Like, his thoughts can't have come from nowhere.

zestwitch

Yeah + family seems to be a strong theme for Teo. In the q/a it said we'd see more of his daughter eventually

MathTans the Pun Prince

True, true. He's got a good conscience also, bumping the coffee onto Ant. I imagine his brother's decent too, letting Teo move in. Wonder why his relationship hasn't worked out. Was the fame thing part of it?

RebelVampire

well considering his reaction to ant i kind of assumed some self projection there

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hmm, that's interesting. I can see it, didn't think about that.

RebelVampire

not to say thats for sure

but he did have an extreme reaction to the conversation

which most ppl would just probably ignore it

MathTans the Pun Prince

So he was kinda tuned into it? Could have been he was bored.

RebelVampire

there were other ppl in the shop tho and he was poised to write stuff down. but mostly, bumping into him so ant spills hot coffee on himself is not the most upstanding reaction XD that is the action of someone who is bitter about something

MathTans the Pun Prince

There is that. Of course, inserting yourself into a conversation and saying "hey, you're kind of terrible to be talking behind someone's back" is a tough sell. I guess I just liked the comeuppance too much.

RebelVampire

maybe what happened tho is diff. like teo had a breakup and later the person was like "nah man i never loved you you actually dont mean anything to me now" cause there was a similar line that seemed to trigger his reaction

MathTans the Pun Prince

That could be. Now, while Teo's struggle resonates the most, the one I'm most curious about is between Lee and Dana. Because they were both played by Ant, but then Lee just stepped right the hell over the line about having her watch as Rosier killed him. (I guess because she thought Dana was in on it??) I feel like that's got to play into things.

It also kind of kills my yuri ship of Lee and Dana consoling each other over the jerk because Dana likely has PTSD.

zestwitch

It might be jealousy. Sucks for dana. But considering lee would go far enough to have ant killed, its not a large step further to have the girl who replaced her watch it happen.

MathTans the Pun Prince

Guess it could be jealousy. Maybe that's a larger arcing theme.

RebelVampire

i like that both stories are connected by some themes of...im gonna say lonliness even tho im not sure thats the word i want to use. maybe isolation. cause lee and teo both seem to be having struggles with connecting with others.

MathTans the Pun Prince

Ooh, that's a good point. Yeah, like isolation issues.

Being defined by the people around them.

RebelVampire

which maybe dana will become more prominent and have a similar theme where shes like "nope if i date this person theyll become demon chow"

MathTans the Pun Prince

(Is there a statute of limitations on blood oaths?)

RebelVampire

idk O_O maybe.

oh thats a good one too that theyre all being defined by the people around them

makes you wonder what lee was like before ant

MathTans the Pun Prince

Like, now that the deed is done, does Rosier just chill out on the couch until someone else summons him?

Truth. He doesn't seem to have changed her for the better.

I doubt living with a demon will do wonders for her psyche either.

She was wondering about if she was on the tipping point.

RebelVampire

more likely he does some soul collection and gtfo there but maybe not. i mean we have no idea what rosier's endgame is. hes a demon and demons usually up to no good

unless the character profile lied

and he really just wants to have an epic career as a ninja

MathTans the Pun Prince

Characters evolve. ^.^

RebelVampire

that they do

so idk

its up in the air now whatll go on with rosier

MathTans the Pun Prince

Rosier teaches Teo how to be a ninja next.

(Time for some oddball theories.)

RebelVampire

oh another theme thats kind of present is impulsiveness. cause lee obviously made an impulsive decision, teo implies his fame thing was kind of impulsive decision with the initial video.

but now that makes me wonder if ant also made an impulsive decision

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oooh, interesting, didn't pick up on that.

RebelVampire

and he had actually gone to lee's apartment to check on her

but then was like "baby i love you you so hot"

MathTans the Pun Prince

Maybe. Dude might as well have a devil on each shoulder if that's the case though.

RebelVampire

sometimes ppl do. not to say hes suddenly guiltless or anything. but maybe he didnt intend to get with her which is why he was so abrasive in a way with dana. trying to deny the deed

for himself

MathTans the Pun Prince

Yeah, except ticking off a blood witch seems like not good for self preservation. I dunno. Maybe he's more brainless than a jerk?

Like, he apparently doesn't know Lee half as well as he thinks.

RebelVampire

well to be fair he might just view her as mostly a scammer. since she does scam ppl apparently

QUESTION 3. Though Ant and Lee almost patch things up, Ant proves to be a cheater still. In her despair, Lee instructs the demon Rosier to kill Ant. However, there is clearly a soul at stake in this bargain. What do you think will happen to Lee now that Ant is dead? Will Rosier call for the soul now? Does the soul have to be Lee’s or is Rosier after Ant’s soul? Will Lee regret her actions or just rejoice Ant is dead? Will she become aware of how her actions have affected others or will she live in blissful ignorance of what she has wrought?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oh, with palm reading? I didn't pick up on that.

RebelVampire

idk if it was with the palm reading. i just know ant mentioned her scamming and her profile mentions she scams college kids on the side

MathTans the Pun Prince

Gotcha. Regarding the question, huh, I just kind of assumed it was Ant's soul. Unless Lee interceded and found someone else.

zestwitch

I think Lee paid with her own soul

in exchange for the favor? Not 100% sure

MathTans the Pun Prince

I don't think Lee will regret killing Ant. I do think she might regret making Dana watch. Which she could learn about through Teo, if he ends up seeing a similar expression on Dana as the one Lee had when Rosier was hanging about. (It could just be me trying to ship the two women again.)

RebelVampire

yeah the comic was vague so anybody's soul is up for grabs. tho maybe its dana's soul thats gonna get taken cause shes there. it could be ant's soul tho. ant's soul makes sense since hes dead therefore his soul is not exactly using his body. but its a blood pact so lee's soul makes more sense

i think shell regret killing ant tho. especially if she goes and sees

cause she loved him at one point

and love is harder to get over than a moment of rage

MathTans the Pun Prince

Maybe. I guess it depends on how well she can put it behind her (which could be impossible depending on Rosier's actions next). Like, maybe she'd regret having caused someone's death, but I still hesitate on whether there was anyone else more worthy.

I wonder if anyone else will be miffed. Like, how can the police deal with something like this, when you've got an eyewitness talking about demons? Would she be written off as a loon, or are there X-Files agents out there who might start asking questions, annoying other witches?

RebelVampire

i doubt were gonna go x-files here

but now that you mention it

dana is probably going to jail or the psych ward

or is at least going to be prime suspect

cause she was the only one in the room

thered probably be no demon evidence

and lee whod have the most motive has an alibi kind of

MathTans the Pun Prince

Oh heck. I hadn't even considered that Dana'd be a suspect. (Not the odango girl, nuuu!) I don't think she'd have motive though, really. But yeah, kinda means and opportunity. THAT'S something Lee could feel guilty about.

Still wonder how prevalent such things are elsewhere in the world.

RebelVampire

id assume not very maybe. i mean at the very least, if theres witches about youd think someone wouldve summoned rosier much sooner

rather than wait at least 400 years

MathTans the Pun Prince

He might have been in self-imposed (or externally imposed) exile for that time.

Or maybe he's connected to Lee's bloodline specifically or something, and no one on her side of the family summoned him. Other bloodlines have other demons.

RebelVampire

hmm possibly

MathTans the Pun Prince

Or time passes different in the demon realms. I dunno, I'm making up stuff now. ^.^

What do they even do with souls?

Power their microwaves?

RebelVampire

that is a good question.

maybe eat them. using them for tennis practice

hard to say

rosier so vague

MathTans the Pun Prince

"I need soul!" "I'll play you some jazz music."

RebelVampire

LOL

regardless i feel like at the end lee wont have time to regret what happens to others. i feel shes gonna be focused on the fact she now has a spooky demon who has fulfilled his end of the bargain

MathTans the Pun Prince

It does take a while for that sort of thing to sink in. Lots happening in a short time frame here.

RebelVampire

although i would like to see lee at least regret the dana part. cause thats just cold hearted. she didnt even consider that dana got played just as much as she did

MathTans the Pun Prince

Yeah. Kind of a rude introduction to the spirit world there. (Ooh, I wonder if Dana might have some powers of her own...)

Like, maybe Ant likes to date people with connections to the spirit realm.

RebelVampire

queue the next chapter where dana gets her own blood pact going and rosier and another demon have epic demon fights

MathTans the Pun Prince

I'd read that. Particularly if while the demons are duking it out the pretty ladies just go off and make out somewhere. (Sorry, sorry, I'll try to get off this boat...)

I remember reading in the Q&A that Lee is bi. ^.^

RebelVampire

i think your ship is a bit doomed there considering lee just made the girl watch ant get sliced into sashimi

thats kind of a mood killer

MathTans the Pun Prince

Both of them may have regrets. ^.^

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. The description of the story mentions it is about the “far-reaching consequences of one impulsive decision.” Considering the comic has switched to focusing on Teo now, what do you think will happen to Teo? Will his brief encounter with Lee make him a target for Rosier? Will his career or something else be affected because of how he interacted with Ant (who is now very dead)? Is there some foreshadowing in the palm reading that Teo received that can hint at what these consequences might be? Alternatively, is Teo a red herring and going to get off scot free?

MathTans the Pun Prince

Hmm... going back to something you said earlier, maybe Teo is being presented as a counterpoint to Ant. Like, maybe he was kind of a jerk when he was a few years younger, and now he's older and reformed and is doing good. (Both Teo and Ant have a daughter, I think?) So Lee sees what Ant could have become, if he lived.

RebelVampire

hmm thats an interesting interpretation.

i wonder if them both having daughters is going to be important

MathTans the Pun Prince

I also feel like Teo'll end up mixed up in things more owing to seeing the reactions of others to Rosier rather than interacting with the demon himself, since he's open to stuff like palm reading, plus that scene of Lee rushing him out of the place still resonates a bit (maybe because it was fairly recent in the narrative).

All guesswork, of course.

RebelVampire

it could be. or maybe hell see lee again cause something in the palm reading comes true.

so hes like holy crap and goes to see her again

and shes just hiding in the corner crying cause spook demon is about

MathTans the Pun Prince

That could be. I don't remember much of the palm stuff, I read it over the weekend. ^.^ But I could see that.

RebelVampire

the gist was basically "Teo your life sucks and it will continue to suck"

XD

or its possible that itll be on the news, ant's death that is

thanks napples

and while teo is with his bro hell be like "whoa i saw that guy this morning"

and then teo self reflects

tho maybe the outcome wont be negative

maybe hell see ant had a daughter and is like "i should spend more time with my kid"

Superjustin of Time and Space

I find it very unliekly

but what if somehow

MathTans the Pun Prince

Napples likes to get some digs in. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it'll make the news, what with the talk of graphic portrayal.

Superjustin of Time and Space

Ant returned form the grave

in spirit or something

MathTans the Pun Prince

Could be, Rebel.

RebelVampire

i could see as a spirity ghost. and rosier is like "here lee i got you this cheating boyfriend"

MathTans the Pun Prince

We don't know much about the spirit world, true SJ

Superjustin of Time and Space

lol

MathTans the Pun Prince

Could be the "soul" part that Rosier wants.

Superjustin of Time and Space

Perhaps

RebelVampire

maybe ant's ghost will haunt lee cause unfinished business and all that jazz

and he will eternally remind lee what she did

MathTans the Pun Prince

Smooth jazz music plays

Superjustin of Time and Space

yeah that sound slike a cool moment.

MathTans the Pun Prince

Maybe Lee ends up taking in Ant's daughter, and needs to turn to Teo for advice on how to raise a kid?

RebelVampire

maybe but id assume ant's daughter lives with the mom so that seems unlikely

tho maybe lee gets invited to the funeral

and meets ant's daughter

and is like oops

i killed someone's dad

MathTans the Pun Prince

Who is also Teo's aunt! Dun dun dun.

(The mom who is also the aunt that is. Not Lee.)

The circumstances of how their threads weave back together will be interesting either way, I think

RebelVampire

yeah i look forward to seeing how things reconnect. cause the change in focus really has me curious where its going to go. like is it going to be a dual protagonist situation where it switches back and forth between them. or is it going to have more

like maybe after teo we follow teo's bro or something

MathTans the Pun Prince

Or maybe it's less a dual protagonist thing and is more protagonist/antagonist. Lee's already indicated she thinks she's not a good person.

Maybe Teo tries to help Dana or something, and Lee says screw that noise, and they end up on opposite sides of the coin.

RebelVampire

could be although i feel like lee isnt going to go that far. i mean she was certainly the villain when it came to ant and dana, but i dont feel shes going to continue down the evil path. unless what rosier wants with a soul is to have some servant of evil. in which case maybe lee will just serve him and bring him victim after victim

MathTans the Pun Prince

I don't see her continuing down it unless Rosier's involved, yeah. Guess we'll see.

Anyway, before things wrap, just want to mention again that backgrounds were done very well in my opinion. Also all the best to the author and thyroids, my wife has trouble with hers, they can be problematic.

RebelVampire

yes i hope the author is doing better. illnesses of any kind suck

but yeah the backgrounds are nice

tho i think the art is general has a really nice, well-done style

i really love lee's witch outfit

MathTans the Pun Prince

Truth.

The hair progression in the Q&A was neat too.

RebelVampire

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this week’s chat~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to tendermiri, as well, for volunteering Heart Hex for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support tendermiri’s efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at RebelVampire@startfaire.com.

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Zaltera by Morgan Mudway (aka Tri). Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (December 14th) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: http://zalteracomic.com/

[absolutelybifurious]

homecoming feelings inc (spoilers: most of them will look something like i love tony stark i LOVE tony stark i loVE TONY STARK I LOVE ad nauseum) 

peters video recording of civil war what an absolute babe

“thats not a hug im reaching for the door” (yeah right tony we all know you crave human contact)

why does peter know spanish?

peter taking time to pet the cat *_*

peter desperately looking for ways to help and giving that lady directions,,,, my son

“why did i mention the churro”

peter saving the cat and handing it back to the shop owner LIKE OH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDDDDD I LOVE HIM 

michelle doing situps with her book

no one will convince me flash doesnt have a massive gay crush on peter parker yall, i mean cmon?? HE MAKES EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM CLASSIC CRUSH SIGNS,,, hes legitimately obsessed with him, like i’m not kidding i can’t remember the specifics but several times i was like ok this is just kinda coded like hes into peter actually?

“you’re here too” “am i?” truly the best scene in the film michelle is a gift and zendaya is our glorious goddess who has bestowed this wonder on us

god the van scene, i immediately loved donald glover but that could be bc hes cute. but the thing is, this movie did such a Job of making peter immature. like i was continuously frustrated with him bc he was so markedly different and less mature than any of the other heroes. he screwed up again and again and again and the kidness of him was so well done. like it infuriated me half the time. but damn it was well done

TONY INSTALLED A HEATER IN PETERS SUIT

TONY WAS PAYING SO MUCH ATTENTION TO PETER THAT HE NOTICED WHEN THINGS WENT POORLY

TONY LISTENED TO THE PROBABLY HUNDREDS OF REPORTS PETER SENT AND REMEMBERS THE FUCKING CHURRO

tony wants to talk to peter about his college plans

tony stark is the best dad ever, and really in general he is the best person ever and no one will ever tell me that there is a person with a better heart in the MCU BECAUSE THERE IS FUCKING NOT 

TONY STARK IS TOO GOOD FOR ALL OF US WE DO NOT DESERVE HIM

poor ned :( “that hats not working” i was really mad at peter for the way he kept ditching all hsi real life friends

kinda glad vulture killed that guy what a disrespectful douche

“i thought that was the anti gravity gun” “wHAT NO” hmMmMmMm I LOVE

also he treats his other ppl with a lot of respect and later the ppl still think they can leave and like, thats cool

michelle noticing what peters quit already

i have a hot date with black widow later

that is false

another long one: i didnt super buy peters crush on liz. it felt really faked because he never really made choices for her, and i get that he was more into spiderman but i never felt the significance of the crush... i think that was played over a little bit too much

also i dont think ive been this impressed with a villain in the marvel franchise since loki. vulture was so compellingly realistic. i know they tried that shit with whats his face from civil war but he was so irrelevant i didnt care. vulture was relevant, scary, but also emotionally compelling

fucking taser web

you jumped off the sign and landed on your face

i love karen

i read a post about tony coding an AI thats emotionally encouraging and invested in peters life bc tony is invested in peters life and like iw ant to die

i just dont want to celebrate something built by slaves

THE GUARDS LIKE PREACH

michelle is a gift

“kiss her peter”

“thank you”

donald glover I HAVE A NEPHEW YEEEEEEEEEE BOY GIVE ME MILES I DESERVE IT

the whole interrogation scene was golden,,,, “NEVER DO THAT AGAIN KAREN” 

you’re a criminal!!! you deserve it!!!!!!!!!!!!! bye!! criminal!! i love peter so much

TONY STARK CALLING TO TELL PETER WHAT A GOOD JOB HE DID IN DC TONY STARK BEING A SUPPORTIVE, GOOD PARENT AND WANTING TO MAKE SURE PETER KNOWS HE IS PAYING ATTENTION 

peter just keeps causing disaster after disaster 

that whole ferry scene had me cringing

but he tried so hard to help everyone!!

tonys anger after it was totally warranted. i dont blame him for taknig the suit. 

MY FAVORITE LINE: if you really cared you’d be here AND TONY MOTHERFUCKING STEPS OUT OF THE SUIT

and god rdj brings the fuCKING PAIN you can see how panicked he is how muc hhe doesnt want to hurt peter but how SCARED he is bc peter isnt listening to him and god!!! what if something happened to peter!! you can hear the self loathing and the pain that hes carrying from all the other movies all he wants to do is make sure nothing happens to peter or anyone else

tony listened to peter to try and stop the vulture, tony takes him seriously!!!!!!!!!!! tony is such a good dad and such a good person and HOLY SHIT!! TONY STARK!!!!!!!!!

hes hurting so much in that scene he doesnt wanna be like howard HE DROPPED EVERYTHING TO GO HELP PETER IM UNDONE

also look how well peter got back on track after he lost the suit

still ??? at the liz scene tho?? i just didnt feel that relationship much at all, there wasnt anything there

PLOT TWIST PLOT TWIST PLOT TWIST 

MMMM THATS SOME GOOOOOOD SHIT 

and once again vulture is incredibly compelling bc that brings a whole new context to why his face changed re: dc and why he didnt try to kill peter on the ferry

michelle doing the casual flip-off, god i love her so much??

holy shit peter in the wreckage, tom holland go off that acting tore my heart in half AND THEN HE REMEMEBRED TONY WORDS

CMON SPIDERMAN I AM SOBBING

FLASH ASKING DO YOU REALLY KNOW PETER PARKER HES IN LOVE

vultures desperation in this final scene is,,,wow, you fucking feel it, it makes sense. hes such a compelling villain.

peter saving vulture what a fucking babe

liz really is a sweet girl i wish i’d believed the crush more bc she deserves all the love

my friends call me mj YISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS gimme that michelle/peter RN

michelle acting like she doesnt care and then THAT LOOK THAT LOOOOK OMG ZENDAYA KILLED ME HOW DID SHE CONVEY SO MUCH ACTUAL LOVE AND COMPASSION AND CRUSH 101 IN A 2 SECOND CLIP YALL

happy in the bathroom. goodbye to me.

can we talk about tony? being so ecstatic that peter did all this? tony saying thatw as the tough love moment you needed and being so convinced that it wasnt and so convinced by his own acting that he could never actulally ahve inspired anything like that so hes just going to blaze ahead and not even acknowledge that yes!! it was actually!!!!!!!! he was a great father figurei n that moment and in this whole movie 

but he doesn’t believe that so he’s just going to keep being sarcastic to cover up for the fact that he doesnt think any of this had almost anything to do with him and everthing to do with peter

bc he has no concept of his own self-worth and yet to contrast that he directly inflates it and is so used to ppl disregarding it and accusing him of having an ego that even in this moment when he does something really amazing he makes it about his fake-ass ego and doesn’t let anyone actually give him credit for anything bc he is too busy giving himself fake-credit that he uses as an excuse in every other scene to call himself a piece of shit,,, that other ppl use to call him that bc ppl cant see through it bc he doesnt actually WANT anyone looking too closely, and yet, in this scene, he seems to be using it to exempt peter from actually acknowledging what he did was good bc hahaha im a self-congratulatory egomaniac

anyway hahahaha i love tony stark

also he is sad, he wants peter to stay with him, but he lets it go bc he recognizes it was the mature choice (and probably not the one he’d ahve made) 

hes so proud of peter i want to die

PEPPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE RING!!

they’re both so confused about happy and the ring i love it

PEPPER!!!!!!!!! THEY’RE BACK!!!!!!!!! THANK FUCKING JESUS BC IF SOMEONE DIDNT LOVE TONY STARK IN THIS DARK TIME THEN IW OULD HAVE FOUND A WAY TO BREAK INTO THIS FICTIONAL REALM AND DO IT MYSELF

that little kiss was everything she lvoes him i love them

ugh

this movie was gr8 a++++

i love my son tony stark and his son peter parker and his future wife michelle

[reijiakabutt]

Yo Tima do be a solid and list your top 5 characters from each ygo series and why or if you're feeling salty least fav and why.

oh lord :’D yOU DON’T.... you literally don’t want me to talk about my least favs... i can’t tarnish a post about my loves by talking about a bunch of shits plus the dm and zexal ones are gonna be a goddamn dissertation

so you jsut get my favs lol

DM

Seto Kaiba: because obligatory fav of dick with daddy issues lol nah man, I just... I really enjoy his character. I love how driven he is and ssuper extra but at the same time, even when he’s being ridiculous - everything to him is just to prove how like... how far he’s come and how he wants to overcome.IDK if i’m making sense but i love seto kaiba. the original bae

Atem: I love this fuck. He’s hilarious and like... such a fun protag, such a shit. I also really like how FAR he goes with punishment games and protecting his friends without trully divulging into darkness and losing himself. With him, there’s like this aspect of control that I love. But I love that there’s a sense of vulnerability with him, that because he doesn’t know so much about himself, he overcompensates by presenting himself as the ultimate show of confidence. Also, I just like how his character is basically just #goals to literally every goddamn character. He is literally God.

Kisara: I love her, fuckk you all. She deserved better. Something about being THE GODDAMN BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON and she’s actually this quiet, frail woman is like... the coolest contrast. I wish she got more.

Mana: I... also... love her... so mcu h!??! Like, she’s just this silly girl who was forced to mature so fast and was so goddamn strong... like shit, that scene with her crying over Mahado’s death always gets to me and how she aspires to be strong and finally be serious... she’s so great ;-;

Mahado: I DON’T KNOW WHY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. BY ALL ACCOUNTS, HE’S VERY GENERIC AND UNDERDEVELOPED BUT...  *cries* i lvoe himso mcuh ;-;

GX

Asuka: She’s like... the smartest goddamn character in this show and the most competent one - how could I not love her? She’s just really cool.

Ryou: ahaha... my love... he’s just my aesthetic. I wish he was in it more. I just love how much he fucking snapped and how far he’s fallen... it’s really interesting to see it go down this way rather than the other way around.

Fubuki: ... I didn’t expect him to be such a goddamn idiot. I love him, damn. And he’s notjust a total goof, I jut love the darkness aspect too...

Shou: aka the character with some bombass development

... I don’t got a fifth one...

man, idk

Edo Phoenix: he’s just cool, I guess?? idk, i mostly loved him from arc v but i do really like him here lol

5Ds

Jack Atlas: I quite literally love Jack Atlas with all my heart and soul. Like... I love his story and am sympathetic toward it. He abandoned all his friends to seek a better life and forgot himself along the way and is trying to redeem himself by becoming his own goddamn person and not controlled by his circumstances. That’s. Jsut... at the time I watched 5Ds, I really needed that. aslo D I JUT LOSVE THAT HE’S ALSO SUCH A FUCKIGN DORK1?!?!

Yusei Fudo: MAN, TALK ABOUT A COOL PROTAG! He’s one I fell in love with right away. I always loved his type of character, the calm cool stoic type. And like.. Yusei is jsut amazing.

Carly Nagisa: LOOK, SHE DESERVED THE GODDAMN WORLD OK. She was so adorable and smart and ridiculous but so sincere in her emotions. I just liked how ambitious she was. I wish the show remembered her lol

Aki Izayoi:  my girl ;-; i love Aki she’ the fucking greatest. I loved her development too - going from this lonely, angry girl who was isolated and emotionally tormented and abused by those around her to emotionally manipulated and then like... she grows from that, becomes stronger and like... I just like that she grows up. That she lets go of that hatred.

Kiryu Kyosuke: oh god, his story was so wonderfully done. I love Kiryu omg he was sympathetic, entertaining, absolutely ridicullous but like... man, was he an interesting character and I loved his bonds and story arc as well.

Zexal

Kaito Tenjo: look man, he was the only intersting character in this bordom. Had the best episodes, the best duels, was the most compelling character - and plus, was 100%  my type.

IV: he waas half the reason i wanted to watch the show and he was hot and lived up to expectations. also, i liked his development

III: a legit surprise. i didn’t expect to like him as muh as i did but like... his duel with Yuma really won me over cuz I found his character to be rreally interesting and tragic.

I don’t have five favorite characters - it’s honestly a miracle I have three of them.

Arc V

(not including legacy characters lol)

Reiji Akaba: OH LOOK. I LIKED THE MAIN RIVAL. WHAT A FUCKING SHOCK. But no, like... he was such a different class of rival and was so different from what I expected and his actions weren’t solely good or selfish either but for a higher cause and he was just a fascinating character and a complete breath of fresh air.

Yuya Sakaki: honestly, out of all the protags I’d say he has the best development. The way he doubted himself, worked to overcome hi doubts and fears - not even trying to inspire others but trying to inspire himself and become his own person, something that was never a goal but ended up happening along the way. The whole story on how Yuya reacts and his journey, it was just really intimate and personal... plus like, he was so charming and relatable. IDK, he’s just the most realistic.

Yuzu Hiiragi: oh goddamn she’s the greatest. An active girl who had a role in the plot that wasn’t about revolving a dude and her eternal love for him?? But rather was an active particpant?/ STRONG CHARACTER!!? I love Yuzu, she’s fantastic. The best girl.

Reira Akaba: my baby boy ;-; his story line and character arc and development is so fucking great. my heart just tugs at seeing him.

Zarc: WOW. I GAVE A SHIT ABOUT THE VILLAIN ENOUGH TO WANT HIM REDEEMED AND HAD A BELIEVEABLE AND SYMPATHETIC FALL FROMGRACE BUT WAS STILL LIKEABLE!?!? I just loved his story... like, fuck man... damn. 

FYI dude, there were quite a few I coulda put under that fifth slot for a5 lol

[calliope-hesiod]

♠: What's one thing you dislike about your Muse? ☁: Favorite part of RPing. ✉: Any RPers the Mun admires.

♠: What's one thing you dislike about your Muse?

Jane: uhhhhhh man i hate that she gets so flirty tbh i think she’s growing out of it though but idk its hard to hate her bc she’s my dearest im just gonna up front say that if you didnt kNoW

Howl: nothing honestly his flaws are what make him fun

Eva: she’s quiet in my head a lot. i hate that she’s not willing to talk.

Roger: HE. COULDNT. LET. ANITA. GO. but it worked! in the end! 

Callie: i wish she would let herself be sad--I think she’s getting better at that. i also hate how often she uses exclamation marks.

Jake: his use of slang annoys me

Daisy: i hate that she wont make up her mind i hate that she’s so scared i hate that she hates herself i just want to hug her ughdaskjl

Ly: THAT SHE INSISTS I WRITE HER FUCKING FULL NAME THIS IS THE WORST ONE I HATE IT FUCK YOU LYMANTRIA

Al: his weird attitude towards women, someone teach him

Alana: she’s a little ball of angst and that is fun but it is also annoying bc u will never kno her true feelings~~~

Dipper: nothing, my son, my dear--o okay his proper use of grammar while texting

☁: Favorite part of RPing:

man i really like getting into a characters head. I LOVE world building and I LOVE characters and that’s what this RP is about. I love getting to plot with you guys and colloborate. I also love tasks. I also love having friends in my pocket. my fave thing about this rp specifically is how invovled we get w world building, like we consider how books and movies and stuff fit in this world and thats just really cool yo

✉: Any RPers the Mun admires.

wow dont make me pick favs

disclaimer, i do love all of you but here’s some shout outs:

Lauryl: the way lauryl and i plot is as follows: dumb joke, laughter, what if that dumb joke was true, haha are you serious, yeah kinda, hmm, okay, yeah, i like it--rINSE AND REPEAT and you get a dragon demon egg, you get a mummy, you get McTriton (just all of mctriton). but like when it gets down to it, lauryl and i have been doing this for like--jesus christ, like seven years--and we trust each other with big things and we have this give-and-take thing that’s worked so well for us and it’s grown from john and jane telling stories on the beach to a current off-dash five way para with some crazy spell taking place and we just trust that we will do what we came here to do and it will work and it will be fun and idk it’s always a pleasure

MK: this is funny bc i was thinking about MK earlier and about how i need MK to keep me grounded in a scene and i have honestly just learned so MUCh from her like i try to think about where my characters are and what they are doing and also, okay, one thing I love about MK’s characters is that they all have really big glaring flaws, but they are ALL WONDERFUL because of those flaws and that’s what makes them so great because you have someone like Perdita who is one of the easier targets here, who is sharp and hard and jealous--but she’s so vulnerable had has these huge soft spots for Anita and Paul and Roger and ugh she’s amazing--and so real. they’re ALL amazing. 

Sam: man i  just adore sam’s writing sometimes i forget that he is so much younger than all of us because his writing just FLOWs so beautifully and i love that (parentheses thing) (that sophie does) (all the time) because it just CAPTUREs her character and i think sam works so well with changing up styles and stuff within his writing to capture a character. //slams fist down--SAM WE GOTTA DO MORE

Avarick: first all, i love that avarick’s blogs are just...shirtless men. god, what a blessing, what a gift, that alone is worth a mention. But most importantly, I think Avarick’s characters are consistently the funniest on the site. They are just so fun to rp with. He has a good grasp of humor and the voices of his characters are so sharp and clear.

Alex: i was wrong when i just said avarick is the funniest--bc alex is def def up there. just look at bobby’s existence. she ahs SUCH wacko characters and they all have this specific vibrant way of speaking and its just GREAT like i can HEAR all of them in my head so loudly

note if u didnt get a shoutout its probably just because while i would lvoe to write a paragraph on all 30 something of you, my hand is going to fall off